US futures point lower before Wall Street open

BEIJING (AP) — Wall Street pointed toward a lower open Monday on the heels of last week's furious rally that gave the major stock indexes their biggest gains of the year.

On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index slipped 0.5% while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.7%.

Global stocks rose to start the week, though China, South Korea and Southeast Asian markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. London and Frankfurt opened higher. Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced while Sydney declined.

Investors have had to navigate markets in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s decision to cool inflation through accelerated interest rate hikes, while at the same time winding down bond purchases and other stimulus that have boosted stock prices.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 2.4% for its biggest gain since June 2020. The Dow added 1.7% and the Nasdaq composite jumped 3.1%.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London was flat and Frankfurt's DAX rose 0.3%. The CAC in Paris was down 0.3%.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 1.1% after the government reported December retail sales fell 1% from the previous month's 2 1/2-year high. That was driven by a 4% fall in food purchases.

The Hang Seng gained 1.1% while Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 shed 0.2%.

India's Sensex advanced 1.4% while New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets gained.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude gained 29 cents to $87.11 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 21 cents on Friday to $86.82. Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, added 38 cents to $88.86 per barrel in London. It advanced 69 cents the previous session to $90.03.

The dollar gained to 115.44 yen from Friday's 115.23 yen. The euro rose to $1.1155 from $1.1146.